It is old in the art to employ a window gasket for mounting a rack inside a vehicle, as evidenced by my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,876,079 issued April 8, 1975; 3,931,893 issued Jan. 13, 1976; and 4,058,221 issued Nov. 15, 1977. Reference is made to these previous patents and to my co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,164 as well as the art cited therein for further background of the invention.
As pointed out in my previous U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,164, it is convenient to be able to employ a rack in a vehicle for hanging various different objects in areas which otherwise have no provisions or appurtenances for this convenience. For example, the fixed rear window of a pickup truck offers a vast amount of readily accessible adjacent area which is commodious and usually not used for storage. Moreover, the roll-up windows of the rear seat area of a vehicle provides a vast amount of unused area most of the time, and it would be convenient to be able to employ a rack in combination with a roll-up window so that articles can be stored in this unused commodious area also. Furthermore, the passenger side of the vehicle offers an abundance of room which can be advantageously utilized if one has means by which a rack device can be included in proximity of the roll-up window on the passenger side.
It is not always convenient to utilize the upper edge of a window for a rack, and in these instances it would be advantageous to instead install a rack between the window frame and gasket therefor, as for example, at the lower end of the window, wherein the metal frame and gasket is used for support, rather than the window frame and gasket, as taught in my co-pending patent.
Moreover, it would be advantageous to have a rugged rack made from a single piece of bent-up metal which could be installed immediately below a window glass, thereby not obscurring one's view through the window.
A rack which achieves the above desirable goal is the subject of the present invention.